Sunday, April 30, 2006

ABC is Turning in the Right Direction

First, ABC's "The View" hired Rosie O'Donnell to replace Meredith Viera.Now I read at the recent Corespondent's Dinner in Washington, guess who was sitting at ABC's table? Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.In your face, Bush! Both of them.Meanwhile, I plan to watch a lot more ABC.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Maybe You've Seen This

If not, you should take a look at it.http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/flash.htm#MainOnce you've watched it, tell us what you think.The damn thing gave me the creeps, but somehow it seems highly plausible in light of the criminals we have running things in Washington.

Rosie O'Donnell will be replacing Meredith Viera on The View.Huh? I guess RuPaul, Sandra Bernhardt and Lea DeLaria had other commitments.I like Rosie okay, I just don't see her fitting in with Star Jones or Elizabeth from Survivor.She so much bigger than they are, personality-wise.Besides, isn't ABC worried that hiring an openly gay, mouthy broad like Rosie will draw fire from the pseudo-Christian, intolerant right?This may be a sign that the big money people at ABC are fed-up with pandering to the Jesus freaks. Good.In your face, Bible thumpers!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Fiesta San Antonio

This week San Antonio celebrates Fiesta, sort of a Mardi Gras with beer and margaritas replacing Hurricanes and chicks showing their breasts.There are 10 days of festivities, including three major parades and countless other events that require driving all over town and paying jacked-up fees for parking.People come from all over the world to join in the fun.In years past, practically everyone I know indulged in at least a few Fiesta events.Now, hardly anyone I know is getting involved in the hoopla.With people shelling out three times the amount they used to pay for gas before Bush stole the 2000 election, budgets are stressed and people aren't driving around as much for frivolous purposes.Besides, fiesta means party in Spanish. What's there to party about?Our country is swirling around the toilet, and Texas is the adopted home of the Bush family--the worst carpetbaggers since the Civil War.On the national scene, Texas is considered a place where stupid, mean-spirited, rich people hide out when they aren't up in Washington, telling lies and screwing taxpayers out of their hard-earned cash.Texas will get a bad rap for the next couple of generations because people think we are responsible for giving the world the corrupt Bush family and their associates like Cheney, Rove and DeLay.The Bushes are blue-blooded Yankees from Connecticut and other colonies in the Northeast. They came here to rape the land and plummet the oil industry, then they had the nerve to stay... and invite their friends.

Nah, no Fiesta for me this year.

The next time I feel like celebrating, the words "felony indictment" will be included in the equation.Until then, I'm laying low, just trying to convince a few people in Blogland that not all Texans are like those horrid, immoral sons of bitches who claim Texas as their home state.

The scuttlebutt I've heard is if Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked Rove to return, then Fitz hasn't gotten enough evidence for an indictment against Rove and is trying to gather more.If Rove's attorney asked to allow Rove to return to the stand, that indicates Rove is making a last ditch effort to try to convince Fitzgerald of his innocence.The best part is, rumor has it that Rove's mouthpiece asked if Rove could return.Combine that with Rove's recent White House demotion and draw your own conclusions.

Meanwhile, with Ken Lay testifying in the Enron trial, why isn't the news media crawling all over his connections with BushCo? Have they forgotten that Bush knew him well enough to refer to him as, "Kenny Boy"?

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

It's Just Too Easy a Target

Bush relaxing pollution standards for the oil and gas industry "so the prices can go down a little" is as transparent as any of his phony initiatives.It's just too easy to expose the bullshit in that reasoning to bother discussing.Just wanted everyone to know I noticed it- but there's nothing more to say beyond, "just another blatant Bush lie."

By now, everyone has heard that Bush's new mouthpiece Tony Snow has said some rather shocking but true things about The Decider.Now as Liar in Chief, Snow will have to minimize those comments with pithy jokes about how hard he was on the 'other guy.'As a Fox News alum, Snow is well suited for his new job. His bona fides as a liar are established; he's ready to roll.Will his presence help the Decider's plummeting poll numbers?Nah.Bush passed his freshness date the moment Katrina blew in.Bush has just gone from Blowjob to Snowjob.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

And Iran

All this news about Iran's desire to get nuclear weapons has been a waste of sound bytes, column inches and Blog space. We can't do a thing about it.Bush has to realize on some level that he's overextended our troops on this boondoggle in Iraq, and he's put us in hock up to our necks to finance it.All this talk about a booming economy is bullshit. When it's borrowed money, it's more aptly called a looming economy.With gas prices as high as they are, soon enough a head of lettuce will cost us $4.

Let China handle Iran. They can pay for a war with the interest that imbecile Bush owes them.

Monday, April 24, 2006

So, Where are the April Showers?

I thought April showers brought May flowers.I'm having to water my lawn as if it were a rice paddy, just to keep it looking like it's not desert land. Not enough rain for April and that's just not normal. Global warming is kicking our butts.But still there's good news.One thing I have discovered that has turned my basil plants into freakish gargantuans with leaves the size of avocados: it's 20-20-20 fertilizer. Fabulous stuff.I use Miracle Gro on occasion too, but this 20-20-20 stuff is to Miracle Gro as a wine cooler is to a bottle of Bacardi 101.My basil plants are so huge I could make pesto for a thousand people.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

lOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIALBush's third termApril 23, 2006

IF PRESIDENT BUSH HOPES the "shake-up" of his administration initiated last week will re-energize his listless presidency, he's bound to be disappointed. A far more audacious makeover is needed — one that sends Vice President Dick Cheney into early retirement.

Second terms are notoriously difficult for presidents. For President Bush, it has been disastrous. His swaggering November 2004 news conference — at which he bragged "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it" — seems from another era. Whatever political capital existed he has squandered with the Iraq war, the Valerie Plame leak inquiry and his ill-advised plan to partly privatize Social Security. His one victory — getting two reliable conservative jurists on the U.S. Supreme Court — is no doubt an enduring one. But there's nothing else.

Hence the yearning for a fresh start, the illusion of a third term. Ronald Reagan, another president hobbled by a second-term scandal, did manage to jump-start his presidency in its last years by bringing new players into his inner circle and engaging in ambitious arms-reduction talks with the Soviets.

Alas, Bush doesn't seem inclined to be that bold. The president has named a new chief of staff and budget director, but this is a merely a case of old loyalists getting new titles. The White House also sent much-pummeled press secretary Scott McClellan packing and, in what seems more like truth in packaging than a real change, relieved arch-political operator Karl Rove of his responsibilities for domestic policy.

It's expected that other heads will soon roll from the Cabinet Room — but not that of seemingly fireproof Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The ax is rumored to fall on Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, considered a lackluster evangelist for the president's economic policies.

Regardless of one's political bias, premature presidential lame-duckitis is not healthy for the nation. And Bush has been on the right side of some important policy debates — namely, in fighting senseless protectionism in cases like the Dubai ports deal, in strengthening the nation's trading relationship with China and, more broadly, in supporting immigration reform.

To his credit, Bush has broken with conservatives in his party, especially in the House of Representatives, who take a purely punitive approach to illegal immigration. But if he was once reluctant to use his political capital to win enactment of a balanced immigration bill, Bush now may be too weak to carry the day at a time when some Republicans in Congress will be tempted to move even further in an anti-immigrant direction. A stronger president also would be in a better position to lead the international community on such issues as Iran's nuclear program.

It's foolhardy to expect Bush to resurrect his popularity by changing his political stripes entirely. But a return (or a first-time visit) to the principles of "compassionate conservatism" would go a long way. His stance on immigration is appropriately compassionate and conservative, and a reawakening to the evils of huge deficit spending would strengthen the administration's credibility on economic matters. Bush also should strive to complete ongoing global trade talks, and for that he would have to take on politically popular farm subsidy programs.

But the remaking of the president in the public eye likely will require more than last week's game of musical chairs. Bush has acknowledged that he has spent much of his political capital on Iraq, and the way to replenish the reserves is to replace the officials most associated with the overreaching that led to the tragedy in Iraq — and with the administration's broader disdain for diplomacy.

Yes, that means dismissing Rumsfeld. The secretary should go not because he has been criticized by a group of retired generals but because he embodies the smugness and inability to acknowledge error that has characterized both the Iraq war and the wider war on terrorism. Rumsfeld has been the pinched public face of an administration that has cut legal and humanitarian corners in dealing with people — including U.S. citizens — suspected of involvement with terrorists.

Suppose Bush didn't stop there. Suppose he also asked Cheney, his mentor and friend but an even more polarizing figure than Rumsfeld, to step down.

We know the objections. The vice president is not a mere presidential appointee but an elected constitutional officer. In choosing a replacement, Bush might be pressured to predetermine the outcome of the 2008 Republican presidential race by anointing one would-be successor over another. Throwing Cheney overboard would be an implicit repudiation of the excessively hawkish foreign policy with which the vice president, even more than Rumsfeld, has been associated.

Unlike most vice presidents, Cheney does not aspire to be president, and he is the consummate Bush loyalist. He would not be giving up a political birthright by agreeing to retire (citing health reasons or a concern about the publicity surrounding the trial of his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby). And the problem of taking sides in the 2008 election is easily solved. Bush could nominate as Cheney's successor an elder party statesman — Bob Dole, anyone? — with no interest in the 2008 nomination.

We even have an answer to the complaint that in jettisoning Cheney, Bush would be repudiating his own record. The truth is that the president, however grudgingly, has recognized that he and the administration made mistakes in the run-up to the war in Iraq and in its aftermath. He has not confessed that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, but he has acknowledged with increasing explicitness that he was wrong to believe that Saddam Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction.

No longer proclaiming "mission accomplished," Bush has been pursuing a sadder-but-wiser policy in Iraq that many Democrats also endorse. It involves ramping up the training of Iraqi troops to take over from U.S. forces while leaning on Iraq's feuding sects to join, however unenthusiastically, in a government of national unity.

Having changed his tune, the president should also think about changing the company he keeps — big time, as Dick Cheney would say.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Why I Adore Arianna HuffingtonRead what she so eloquently wrote:

Fresh Faces of '06: Bolten, Portman...and Rummy?Apr. 18 -- Fresh is clearly the order of the day at the White House. It's almost as if the president has pulled out his leadership keyboard and hit Ctrl--F5!

So new White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, responding to the D.C. conventional wisdom that the West Wing is filled with burned out, off-their-stride staffers, told said staffers that it was time to "refresh and re-energize" the president's team. This according to Scott McClellan, the poster boy for being burned out and off your stride. Nice strategy, Josh. Nothing like a little job uncertainty to promote that refreshed feeling.

Bolten's "message seemed to suggest that Mr. Bush had now come around to the idea that his presidency needed some fresh faces" -- starting, no doubt, with Bolten, who has been a part of the president's inner circle since 1999.

Operation Fresh Face took another giant step forward with today's Rose Garden announcement that Bush's pick to fill Bolten's old job as director of the Office of Management and Budget is Rob Portman, a longtime confidant of Bush who served six terms in Congress before becoming the White House's top trade negotiator last year, and who the AP labeled "a consummate Washington inside player."

That is fresh. If by fresh you mean well-past the 'sell by' date.

"He will be a powerful voice for pro-growth policies and spending restraint," said the budget-busting Bush, somehow managing to maintain a straight face.

And, like an invigorating spring zephyr rolling across the parched plains, Portman responded by praising Bush's 2001 tax cuts as "the smart path" and deriding any talk of changes to current tax policy. "The economy is growing," he said. "Now is not the time to risk losing ground by raising taxes."

An interesting note from Portman's long Beltway CV: In 2000, he played the role of Joe Lieberman during Dick Cheney's debate prep, then took on the role of John Edwards as part of Cheney's 2004 debate preparations (do we detect the VP's omnipresent invisible hand in this nomination?). Maybe for his next role Portman can impersonate an actual fresh face with new ideas.

He can take a lesson from the man he's replacing: Josh Bolten. Does no one in the White House see the irony in the notion that the second-term shake-ups designed to revive Bush's free-falling presidency are going to be spearheaded by a guy who has been with the president since he took office -- and, thus, a part of everything that has gone wrong?

Bolten is a perfect example of how official Washington works. Or, more accurately, doesn't work. Since being named White House budget director in 2003, Bolten has presided over the three largest federal budget deficits in history, along with rampant federal spending and debt. So of course he got promoted.

The most telling thing about Bolten's plans to "refresh and re-energize" the Bush White House is that all of the shake-ups being discussed are on the domestic policy side of the presidential agenda -- with changes predicted to Bush's economic, congressional liaison, and communications teams, and with the hiring of a new top domestic policy advisor (the old one being too busy returning pilfered items at Target to be of any help).

But when it comes to the major crises facing the administration -- Iraq and the war on terror -- neither Bush nor Bolten are suggesting that those overseeing those crises go ahead and leave now. Indeed, Bush continues to give Don Rumsfeld his "full support." "I read the front page," he told reporters today (who has time to bother with those pesky inside pages?) "And I know the speculation. But I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."

There you have it: our Decider-in-Chief has taken a look around, seen that the White House is going up in flames, and decided that it's time to remodel the garage. Bush is thinking wood paneling, but if Bolten wants to go with indoor/outdoor carpet, well, carpet it will be. "The president," said McClellan, "has given him full authority to do what he needs to do, and what is in the best interest of this White House." As long as that doesn't involve turning the fire hoses on Rummy and the conflagration that is the president's foreign policy.

For his part, Rummy has gone all philosophical, saying of the mounting calls for his ouster: "This too shall pass." Wasn't that what Cheney predicted about the insurgency? When asked why he thought he was in the crosshairs of so many former generals, Rummy demurred, saying "I can't climb into other people's minds." True, but you can open your eyes and see the disaster your policies have wrought.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Could It Be?

By now, everyone's heard that Karl Rove has been relieved of some of his White House duties, "in order to concentrate on GOP elections."Could it be that Rove was demoted because he's about to be indicted?Read "The Nation's" David Corn's take on things here: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=78126

Meanwhile, did everyone catch Bush talking about keeping Rumsfeld, calling himself "The Decider"?He said: "I say, I listen to all voices, but mine is the final decision. And Don Rumsfeld is doing a fine job. He's not only transforming the military, he's fighting a war on terror. He's helping us fight a war on terror. I have strong confidence in Donald Rumsfeld. I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation. But I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."What an asshole.

"The president or no one else ever said that this war was going to result in cheaper gas prices."-- White House Counselor Dan Bartlett, 4/19/06

VERSUS

"'The key issue is oil, and a regime change in Iraq would facilitate an increase in world oil,' which would tend to lower oil prices, he said."-- former White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, as quoted in the Washington Times, 9/19/02

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Yer Doin' a Heckuva Job, Scottie

Scott McClellan, the pudgy gay Press Secretary for George W. Bush, has stepped down.After several years of mumbling, sniping, changing the subject and avoiding answers to direct questions, it was time for the professional liar to go.His mother, the oft married Carol Keaton McClellan Rhylander Strayhorn, is running as an independent for Governor of Texas. Maybe she needs some fag power on her campaign.Whatever the reason, Scottie McClellan is just one more lying GOP asshole our nation is lucky to be rid of.Maybe now he can date gay escort Jeff Gannon Guckert out in the open.Good riddance

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

I Love It!

I live in Texas, which as you all know carried Bush in the last two elections.I have a handful of Republican friends, but we agreed long ago not to talk politics.But lately, one by one, they are starting to tell me they can't take much more of Bush."Oh, why's that?" I ask demurely."Because he's fucked up everything he touches," they reply.I am kind. I do not ask why it took them six years to get it.They are angry.They feel lied to.They feel personally abused by Bush's reign of incompetence, graft and greed.I know something that would be fun:Tell us a story of someone you know who's changed his or her mind about Bush, and give us the details.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Rolling Blackouts??

A friend of mine here in San Antonio, along with an article from the Austin American Statesman reports that we can anticipate rolling blackouts in the near future.What the fuck? Are we in Los Angeles now, or what?When actual Texan Lyndon B. Johnson was President, he at least had the gratitude to pork barrel his home state. But this carpetbagger pinhead Bush is fucking his so-called home state with high gas prices... and now rolling blackouts.You think Bush couldn't do something to prevent rolling blackouts in Texas? Dream on!Please someone, catch him blowing Condoleezza Rice on the rug in the Oval Office so we can impeach him. Rolling blackout=no air conditioning. No AC in Texas in the summer=death to the old and infirmed. It just gets worse every day with Bush around.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has canceled an upcoming trip to America (rumor has it) to avoid being photographed with Bush. The prime minister was scheduled to visit the U.S. this spring for meetings with the president, but the trip was called off after Blair decided that being photographed with Bush would be too toxic for his image.Too little, too late if you ask me.Blair is no longer the popular young PM he was when he first took the job, and even though he has announced that he would not back Bush in any aggression toward Iran, the damage has been done.I'm happy for the people of Great Britain that their weakened PM may be realizing the massive mistake he made by allying with Bush, but he deserves no second chances. He needs to be ousted, just like Bush.

I watched the annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) awards last night and was surprised to see as a presenter Jillian Armenante, who played Donna Kowslowski in the show "Judging Amy."My gaydar must be off. I never suspected she was gay.I'd never seen The GLAAD Awards on TV before, but it was very refreshing to see a large venue filled with gay people and those who support us.At a time when the government would love to see us go back into our closets and stay quiet, it's great to know how many of us refuse to do that.Thanks to BushCo we have a lot of lost ground to regain, but hopefully the Republican war against us soon will be vanquished.Their attitude against gay people is reason enough to oust them at every opportunity.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Happy Easter

I'm not a practicing Christian per se, but I like Easter because it's spring, plants are flowering and I get to spend time with my family. Just because I am not affiliated with any Christian church, however, I still am aware of the kind of person Jesus was, and the kind of spiritual traits he possessed.

Bush claims to be a born-again Christian, and his cabinet all seem to be devout Christians as well.

If that's the case, can anyone name anything "Christian" BushCo has done in the last six years? Was invading Iraq Christian?Is the continuing boondoggle in the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Christian?Was cutting funding for schools Christian?Was giving big tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans Christian?Is hamstringing Mexican aliens who want a better life Christian?Is singling out gay people and denying them the same rights as straight people Christian?

There must be something Christian Bush has done--and I don't mean pandering to radical fundamentalist Christians who hate more than they love.

This Easter, ask yourself what our Christian president has done that Jesus would bless.Anyone?

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Poetic Justice

My old friend Lulu over at "Take Your Medicine" has penned a wonderful poem about the group of retired U.S.Army Generals who are demanding Rumsfeld's resignation. It was so good, I just have to reprint it here:

Said Don to the brass, "It’s a mighty good thingYou all are retired, or you’d feel the stingof all of the power that's vested in me:I’d say where you’d go, whom you’d fight, when you’d pee,You’d lose MRE’s, you’d subsist but on weedsIn the army we’d have, not the army you’d need.I’d kick in your privates, and I don’t mean First Class,I’d yank off your stars and batter your ass!"

Said George-the-Inept, "I wish I were smarmy,But in matters of war, who heeds the Army?With the Lord by my side, Dick and Don at my back,We can’t help but win, even if I’m a hack!The daily statistics, Iraq and Iranare manifestations of my Jesus’ plan!Just as He has chose me, just as I am His dude,You’re all my toy soldiers, if I’m not being rude."

Replied the six four-stars with fire in their eyes,(Swannick and Griggs had expanded their size)"We’ve had quite enough, you’re no more than a thief,Certainly not our Commander in Chief!When you were young, you were rich, hawkish wimps,And now you’ve morphed into such corporate pimps!We’ve had quite enough, we’ll stay silent no more,You chicken hawk dipshits, you corporate whores!"

"That’s enough," replied Dubya, "You should know by now,That it makes no difference, no way and no how.I only require that my intimate staffshould shield me from news, refrain from a laughat my mispronounci-ations, my confusions of fact,replace truth with illusion, bring in toady for tact.Even if I removed the Donald from ruleI’d replace him, no doubt, with neo-con fool."

The light broke, clouds parted, they knew it was true,With the Dubya there would always be more of this crew,Conceited, smug morons, t'is hopeless,for sooth,Let’s all terminate them in ‘08’s voting booths!

Friday, April 14, 2006

Gas Has Jumped 17 Cents This Week

Gee, just in time for Christians to fill their tanks to go visit their Christian families out of town for Easter, gas suddenly jumps up an inordinate amount.Anyone who claims Bush is not responsible for these ridiculous hikes should think back to the gas shortage during Jimmy Carter's presidency. He sure as hell took the rap for that.Meanwhile, my big sister sent this handy link: http://www.mapgasprices.com/index.asp for you to find the cheapest gas prices in your area.

And just in case you're in the mood to see the poisonous legacy Bush is creating in Iraq:http://www.bushflash.com/pl_lo.html

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Why I Hate Donald Rumsfeld

If American soldiers are found wearing Dragon Skin- an alternative to military-issued body armor--even if they purchased it with their own funds-- if they are killed or wounded while wearing Dragon Skin, the government has refused to honor GI death benefits or pay for the Veteran's health care.Dragon Skin is said to be the most reliable body armor in the world.The Pentagon doesn't give a fuck about the safety of the soldiers they send off to battle.Some lobbyist for some shittier brand of body armor made a backroom deal with the Pentagon- and it's all about the money, honey.Donald Rumsfeld cares as much about our military as the Taliban does.May he get everything he deserves...in Hell.

Instead of the Republicans coming up with nitwit plans like "virtual fences" and "guest workers," allow me to present my plan for getting Americans back to work and making it harder for illegal aliens to work in America.Customs officials should routinely perform spot checks on businesses who have a history of hiring aliens. When an illegal alien is found employed by such a company, the corporation or owner is instantly fined $20,000 per alien, and forced to shut down until the fine is paid in full.I call it my, "Go after the johns, not the hookers" plan.For each company a Customs Agent finds in violation, he or she is given a $500 bonus for each $20,000 fine he or she levies. That leaves ICE a $19,500 bonus per alien to put back into their coffers.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Tea Party: When it's Time to Go

I attended an afternoon tea party on Sunday at the home of one of my friends who has what appears to be a fortune. None of us know where she got or how she made her money, but it's pretty obvious she has a lot of it.It was all ladies, most of whom are straight and over 50, yet four other lesbians and I were invited because it's apparently chic for rich, single ladies to have lesbian friends.The food was fabulous, the weather was perfect, and our hostess must have had her gardener working overtime, because her yard was festooned with every flower that can grow in South Texas. Gorgeous.All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing afternoon... until Mary the Republican who smells like a ten-pound block of Camay soap came over to say hello. At the time, I was talking politics with some rational, Bush loathing folks, one of whom had just attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and found her charming.I was dying to ask her more about the meeting, but then Mary the Republican sort of squeezed herself in between us and started yammering about how she still thinks Bush is doing a fine job. She even said she'd vote for him again.I felt my jaw clench and tried to remain in a suitable tea party disposition, but my date was making crazy eyes at me so I'd keep myself in check.Just as my voice started to amplify a bit about gas prices, Mary the Republican butt in and said, "Well, you'll be happy I didn't vote in the Republican primaries because I am voting for Kinky Friedman for governor."Instantly, the ice melted and we actually high fived.My date and I used the detente to slip into the next room, where we found seats at a nice, isolated table.Alas, we were quickly joined by a 65-year-old British lady who loves to tell and retell the same stories in excruciating detail. Her appearance was followed quickly thereafter by Mary the Republican who smells like Camay soap.We were cornered.We'd just gotten cups of scalding hot coffee, so we couldn't exactly gulp and go.But then when the British lady started telling us for the third time about the wrought iron planter her husband had gotten her for their patio, we developed asbestos mouths, downed our coffee in two gulps and got up to leave.I was just glad the event was alcohol free, because between the cheap soap using Bush lover and the British Jabberjaws, I would have told one she was crazy and the other that she needed to shut the hell up and stop telling the same stories.Otherwise, it was a lovely afternoon.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Let Them Pack Heat?

I am against handgun ownership. I think the framers of the Constitution had in mind muskets when they gave us the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment. I doubt they imagined modern automatic weapons with laser gunsites and armor piercing ammunition.Muskets used lead balls packed in a paper cartridge which also held gunpowder. The balls came wrapped in a loosely fitting paper patch that formed the upper part of the cartridge.The lower part of the cartridge contained the gunpowder. They loaded the gunpowder first, followed by the paper from the lower section of cartridge used as wadding. Then they loaded the ball and the upper piece of cartridge. Finally, a ramrod served to compact the ball and wadding down onto the gunpowder. The process took a while.Loading a musket gave potential victims (or bad guys) plenty of time to de-escalate the battle by getting the hell out of firing range.You could also spot a guy carrying a musket from a block away.

George W. Bush's first act as Governor of Texas was to legalize the carrying of concealed handguns.Yes, in Texas, anyone with the proper permit can pack heat anywhere they want, unless a business (such as a bar or government property) posts a sign that specifically prohibits it.That's not so uncommon in the other 50 states, either. In fact, only six states prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons.I wonder what pro-National Rifle Association/Pro Gun Bush would do if he were to appear in an outdoor venue and everyone in the crowd was legally packing a handgun or a rifle?Would he trust that everyone in the audience carefully complied with the brief gun safety course they took before they got their permits?Would the Secret Service check everyone's permits, then allow them to proceed to their seats with their guns at the ready?

The Constitution also guarantees citizens the right to peaceful assemblies.If a group of peaceful protesters swarmed the gates of the Crawford Ranch carrying concealed handguns or non-concealed rifles, do you think the Secret Service or local police would enforce either constitutional amendment and allow the peacefully assembled group to continue their protest?

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. shareholders will decide whether to amend the company's equal employment policy to exclude sexual orientation after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission denied Ford's request to keep the issue off its proxy statement, the automaker said Tuesday.

Ford's policy now says the company won't discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, religion and other factors. Shareholder Robert Hurley of Alton, Ill., has submitted a proposal recommending Ford change its policy to exclude any reference to sexual interests, activities or orientation.

Ford asked the SEC to exclude the proposal from its proxy statement, saying it would hurt the company's ability to recruit employees because some universities require companies to include sexual orientation in their policies. Ford also said publicity over changing the policy could hurt sales to gay rights supporters.

But in a recent decision, the SEC said Ford can't exclude the proposal. The SEC said a rule that allows companies to reject proposals that deal with "ordinary business operations" doesn't apply to this case.

Ford is sending its proxy statement to shareholders Friday, spokeswoman Becky Sanch said. Shareholders will vote on the proposals and the results will be announced at the company's annual meeting May 11.

"We will include it, and we will have our comments in the proxy statement," Sanch said.

The SEC agreed with Ford's decision to keep other proposals off the proxy statement, including one that would have required the company to pay managers no more than $500,000 per year.

Ford has had an ongoing struggle with the American Family Association and other right-wing groups about homosexuality. In December, Ford said it would stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands in gay publications to reduce marketing costs. But after meeting with several gay rights groups, Ford said it would put ads featuring all eight of its brands in gay publications.

Last month, 19 right-wing groups reinstated a boycott against Ford over the issue. The American Family Association said Tuesday that it supports the SEC's decision.

"I find Ford's logic in asking the SEC to omit the resolution interesting," AFA Chairman Don Wildmon said in a statement. "In essence Ford is saying they are concerned that a boycott by homosexual groups would financially hurt the company, but the boycott by the pro-family groups will not."

Ford shares were unchanged at $7.77 in afternoon trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

In this wacky world of GOP politics, up means down and winning means losing. So often, one can listen to a GOP politician speak and assume the opposite of what they say as truth.Case in point, Tom DeLay.In his pathetic exit speech, he said he didn't want his re-election race to turn into an advantage for the Democrats who'd use his campaign as a symbol of the GOP's culture of corruption.Does that arrogant clown actually think his exit will make us forget what a crook he and his GOP cronies are?Like convicted felon and GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, DeLay is an indicted criminal whose time in power was running out. Assuming he's guilty is about as sure a thing as assuming Saddam Hussein is guilty, yet we will not find a GOP who would verify that assumption.Surely, DeLay's vacant seat will be filled by a Democrat.Many open seats will be filled by Democrats come November.It's not that the Democrats have done such a great job of pointing out their differences or clamoring for GOP accountability- it's that vermin like DeLay and Abramoff have done all the heavy lifting for them.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Once again, DHS Director Michael Chertoff has shown us he hires high ranking employees without vetting them, then proceeds to let them run amok without anyone being accountable.The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he thought was a teenage girl, authorities said.Brian J. Doyle, 55, was arrested in Maryland where he lives on charges of use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of harmful material to a minor. The charges were issued out of Polk County, Fla.Doyle, of Silver Spring, Md., had a sexually explicit conversation with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl whose profile he saw on the Internet on March 14, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The girl was an undercover Polk County Sheriff's Computer Crimes detective, the sheriff's office said. He also gave the girl his home phone number and his DHS-issued cell phone number.I know a female DHS agent who poses as an underage kid and monitors Internet chatrooms and IM's, specifically looking for pedophiles. Little did she know she could have landed one just by calling the Home Office.Is anyone else besides me feeling like the Department of Homeland Security is the biggest government boondoggle in American history?It's the place to work if you're a lazy, shiftless, career civil servant with psychiatric problems.You're doin' a heckuva job, Cherty.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Ronnie Earle: 10 Tom DeLay: 0

Shakespeare said in MacBeth, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."After all the denials and hissing and spitting like the rattler he is, Tom DeLay decided to throw in the towel and soon will step down from his seat in Congress.Not only that, he plans to leave Texas and move to Virginia.Texas soon will become a cleaner place.All that remains is for Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle to put DeLay on trial, convict him and send him to prison...hopefully in Virginia.Once he's served his sentence, his career as a lobbyist might not seem so filled with potential, unless he's lobbying for improved prisons.It's a beautiful day in Texas!

Monday, April 03, 2006

Bill Maher's closing remarks on his recent show

Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you any more. There's no more money to spend--you used up all of that. You can't start another war because you used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor people. Listen to your Mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit cards maxed out. No one's speaking to you. Mission accomplished."

"Now it's time to do what you've always done best: lose interest and walk away. Like you did with your military service and the oil company and the baseball team. It's time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or space man? Now I know what you're saying: there's so many other things that you as President could involve yourself in. Please don't. I know, I know. There's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela. Eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote."

"But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm surprised that you haven't given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty president, but even he never conceded an entire city to rising water and snakes."

"On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans. Maybe you're just not lucky. I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side."

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Just in time for Hurricane Season

Six months ago, Michael Brown "resigned" as the head of FEMA.After Brownie did his heckuva job in the wake of Katrina, Bush made a speech in front of a spectacularly backlit Jackson Square in New Orleans, and assured the American people that anything and everything would be done to restore New Orleans to its original grandeur.Now six months later, the Gulf Coast is still in a state of wreckage and Bush hasn't even bothered to hire a new FEMA Director.Michael Chertoff, Bush's Director of the Department of Homeland Security, would be the new FEMA Director's boss. We haven't heard anything about him locating a new FEMA chief, either.Why is that?Because both are in so far over their heads and so unqualified to do their jobs, they may not even understand the dire need for a new FEMA chief to hit the ground running and train FEMA response teams in effective disaster relief in time for the upcoming hurricane season.Right after Katrina hit last August, Bush attended a fundraiser in California, then some country singer named Mark Wills gave him a guitar as a gift.He posed for pictures pretending to strum the guitar, just like Nero played his fiddle while Rome was burning.Six months later, the comparison strengthens.Where is El Kabong when we need him?

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Like Trying to Piss Up a Rope

At MoveOn.Org's urging, I called Senator John Cornyn's (R-TX) office yesterday to ask that he support Sen. Feingold's motion to censure Bush.The staffer who answered the phone could barely disguise his contempt.Naturally, during the hearing Cornyn led the GOP pack in attacking Feingold's proposal and branding it as a political ruse.I suspect that Cornyn would have led the attack even if every constituent in his district had called to ask him to support Feingold. He's a slithering reptile, in up to his eyeballs in Bushian graft and deception.I hope, come election time, that the republicans have been caught up in so many scandals and crimes that Texas Senators Cornyn and Bailey-Hutchison both get thrown out of office and into courtrooms to defend their indefensible actions as senators.They say that time wounds all heels, but when?I hope to hell Russ Feingold runs for President in 2008. He's got the one thing most Democrats are seriously lacking. Balls.